Rochester Town Hall Meeting to Challenge Candidates on Manufacturing Issues

MEDIA ADVISORY
September 24, 2008

Contact:
Steven Capozzola, 202-393-3430 x5
David Roscow, 703-276-2772 X 21


Rochester Town Hall Meeting to Challenge Candidates on Manufacturing Issues
 

‘Keep it Made in America’ event will focus on strengthening
U.S. manufacturing base to create jobs & stimulate economic growth


Wednesday, October 1 – 6:30 p.m. – Auditorium Center

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - With our nation’s economic meltdown front and center in the presidential campaign, a panel of trade experts, local business and labor leaders, and elected officials will lead a Town Hall meeting on the need to save U.S. manufacturing jobs and overcome the devastating impact of the U.S. trade deficit.

Sponsored by the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), the Rochester program is the first stop in a national, nine-city fall 2008 “Keep it Made in America” Town Hall tour held ahead of Election Day.  The campaign targets voters in key presidential battleground states, like Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as competitive congressional districts, where manufacturing job loss has become a key issue.  The United States has lost more than 3.5 million manufacturing jobs since 2000, and more than 40,000 factories have closed in the past 10 years.  Every state has lost jobs, with New York shedding 127,000 jobs due to unbalanced U.S-China trade since 2001.

The Town Hall programs will encourage voters to ask presidential and congressional candidates three key questions to determine their commitment to keeping manufacturing jobs in the country:


How will you save American manufacturing jobs?

What specific policies will you enact to strengthen the American manufacturing base, which is vital to our economic and national security?

What steps will you take to enforce our trade laws and hold cheating countries like China accountable?
 

WHAT: ‘Keep It Made in America’ Town Hall Meeting. Free Admission, open to the general public.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 1, 2008, 6:30 pm

WHERE: Auditorium Center, Cathedral Hall, 875 East Main St., Rochester, N.Y. 14605

WHO: Alliance for American Manufacturing, a nonpartisan partnership of leading U.S. manufacturers and the United Steelworkers. Congressional candidates have been invited to speak during the program.  Panelists will include:

Scott Paul, Executive Director, Alliance for American Manufacturing

Ron Hira, PhD, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Rochester Institute of Technology

William J. Pienta, Director, District Four, United Steelworkers (Cheektowaga, N.Y.)

Timothy J. Regan, Senior Vice President, Corning, Inc. (Corning, N.Y.)

M. Brian O’Shaughnessy, Chairman, Revere Cooper Products (Rome, N.Y.)

More information is available at: www.americanmanufacturing.org